Biogen Idec said Monday it received conditional regulatory approval in Europe to market its drug Fampyra, a treatment to improve walking in patients with multiple sclerosis, a disease in which the body attacks the brain and spinal cord. For more click here.

Listen again to James from the The Pedalo Challenge on BBC Radio Berkshire Phil Kennedy Show. This appearance yesterday promted a very generous BMSTC Supporter, Andy Crockett, to donate a huge £1,350 (£1687 including Gift Aid) to take them up to their £2k target!! If you would like to sponser them please visit http://www.justgiving.com/TheP​edaloChallenge To listen forward to approx 36 minutes into the show. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00j16yt

Wednesday, 20 July 2011

"We've got an MS study coming up in Slough on Aug 2nd in the evening. We are looking for Relapsing Remitting MS patients, under 50 years old, who have been diagnosed in the last 5 years. Patients will receive £100 for a 2 hour session (including buffet) plus some "pre homework". The "homework" involves some tasks on the computer which will take them about 2 hours but they can do it any time that suits them before the session.

If you are interested please email cwemail@sky.com and include your telephone number.

A THREE year phased introduction of the increased contributions the elderly and disabled make towards the cost of their social care was approved this week.

The increases follow the previous Coalition administration's decision to increase charges at elderly day care centres from £6 to £43 a day, which users have to meet from their social care budgets. Read full article here.

Naidex South is the homecare, disability and rehabilitation exhibition for London and the South East enabling you to touch, test and copare the latest products to aid independence. For more click here.

Clinicians and people with MS gave evidence at a meeting yesterday (14 July)
Chronic cerebro-spinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) is a theory that stenosis (an abnormal narrowing or obstruction) in blood vessels can cause inflammation and damage to cells in the central nervous system, leading to MS symptoms. For mor click here.

Blitz has been set up and will be supported by The Bond Holiday Group with the intention of raising money to subsidise short breaks in Blackpool and St Anne's. The Bond Holiday Group will be donating generously to Blitz because we sincerely believe that EVERYONE should be given the chance to enjoy a short break away. For more click here

Source PJ Online:Who it is for:
Unlike other young people, Holly Hambly cannot work full time, despite wishing she could. Pins and needles are common, as is the feeling of “imaginary creepy crawlies” over her body. She lives in fear of the days when her legs “stop working” and one side of her face goes completely numb. The 26-year-old from Cornwall suffers from relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). When asked her opinion on an oral treatment that could reduce the frequency of her relapses, her response is immediate: “I want it yesterday.” Read full article here.

Wednesday, 13 July 2011

Source: The MS Trust
In a phase III clinical trial, alemtuzumab (Campath, Lemtrada) was better at preventing relapses than Rebif, but did not stop an increase in disability. For more information click here.

Even more than we originally thought! We officially received the cheque last Thursday at the Windmill Acoustic Music club in Ewshot.
A huge vote of thanks to everyone who supported the event, in particular a very BIG THANK YOU to the event organiser Lynne Whiteland for all of her hard work. This is the second consecutive year that the festival has supported the Centre and in total it has raised £4,500 for BMSTC :0)

Source: The MS TrustThe story of the MS Trust rubber duck has been brought to life...
Please watch The Story of Rubber Duckling to help us win JustTextGiving's video competition. If our video has the most views by 23rd August, the MS Trust will win a £500 donation! Once you've watched our video, please share it with all your friends as well. For more click here.

Source: The Telegraph
Up to a quarter of a million elderly and disabled people will see their dignity and quality of life suffer after a legal decision paved the way for widespread cutbacks to home care, charities warned. Read more here.

Source: MS Society
Advisors at NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) met today to discuss whether the newly licensed MS pill Gilenya (aka Fingolimod) should be freely available on the NHS for people with MS. Read more here.

Source: MS Trust
The MS Trust has been awarded bursary funding to develop further resources to support people with MS to fully understand their rights in the workplace, recognise their own barriers to work and find strategies to ovecome them and to help discussions about MS with health professionals and employers. Read more here.

Source The Telegraph:
Up to a quarter of a million elderly and disabled people will see their dignity and quality of life suffer after a legal decision paved the way for widespread cutbacks to home care, charities warned. Read more here.

Source The MS Society:
Advisors at NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) met today to discuss whether the newly licensed MS pill Gilenya (aka Fingolimod) should be freely available on the NHS for people with MS. Read more here.

Source The MS Trust:
An Australian MS researcher based in Oxford, Dr Julia Morahan, has recently co-authored a commentary about Vitamin D and its relationship to hospital admissions for MS in Scotland. For more click here.

Source The MS Trust:
The MS Trust has been awarded bursary funding to develop further resources to support people with MS to fully understand their rights in the workplace, recognise their own barriers to work and find strategies to ovecome them and to help discussions about MS with health professionals and employers. For more click here.

Source The Scuba Trust:
The Scuba Trust was founded in 1996 by Brenda Carey, Leon Golding and Rikki Singh. Its initial aims were to act as a focal point for the organisation of scuba diving holidays abroad for people with disabilities. It has now grown into one of the UK's leading dive organisations to help individuals with disabilities (and their friends) learn to scuba dive.

The aim of the Trust is to provide a level playing field by arranging training and obtaining funding to subsidise applicants who, due to disability, encounter difficulty in finding suitable instruction and who may face a greater outlay for training and recreational diving after certification. See the website here!

Join our Tall Ships and sail with the The Jubilee Sailing Trust (JST), a registered charity that owns and operates Lord Nelson and Tenacious. These are the only two tall ships in the world designed and built to enable people of all physical abilities to sail side-by-side as equals. Visit the website here!

Source: MS Society
The MS Society has joined charities across England in welcoming today’s report from the Dilnot Commission as a ‘strong foundation on which to build reform of the social care system’. We now call upon the Government to act quickly and decisively to end the crisis in social care funding. Read more here.